Where Luck May Take Us
by Battle Damage
Summary: It's been ten years since the zombie outbreak ocurred on Earth. Due to their violent nature, the humans were able to push it back. But what happens when the outbreak comes to Equestria? Join Gunnery Sergeant John Patrick Ryan and his platoon of Marines in their journey through Equestria.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Location: Camp Pendleton, California

Date: November 8, 2012

I remember when the outbreak first started. I was on leave and was heading towards San Diego for a night out on the town. I had been looking for a place to park for about fifteen minutes when there was a thud and the car shook a little. Immediately, I hit the brakes and opened the car door. I saw a women laying in the middle of the road. Instinctively I ran for her.

"Hey... hey, are you alright." I asked her. She was wearing jeans, a bright pink tank top, and had platinum blond hair. She didn't move and her skin was a deathly pale. As I kneeled next to her, her eyes snapped open and she tried to grab my feet. I jumped back and tried to talk to her. Then I heard a moaning from behind me. Turning around, I saw a large burly man limping over to me. He tried to grab me, but I ducked out the way.

"Fuck this shit." I mumbled to myself as I saw more people running or shambling over towards me. I got back in the car and headed towards the freeway. Almost immediately I was stopped by a roadblock. A cop ran forward and dragged me out of the car.

"Are you infected?!" the cop yelled, as he pressed what I assumed was a pistol against the back of my head.

"Infected? What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"Are you infected!?" the cop yelled, louder this time. After a moment something was pressed against my neck. There was a sharp pain and then a beeping noise.

"He's clean." a muffled voice said. The weight of the cop on my back was lifted off and he helped me up. As I looked around I saw a lot of people, mostly cops, but there were a dozen or so Marines in there to, had their weapons trained on me.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked the cop as he led me towards the barricade. Turning towards me, he asked if I had any experience with firearms. I told him that you don't go for twelve years in the Marine Corp without firearms experience. He immediately handed me a pump-action shotgun and several handfuls of shells. I didn't have time to check what kind of shotgun it was because immediately someone yelled, "Here they come!" The guard handed me a gasmask as he put on his own.

"What are these things?!" I yelled over the racket of automatic weapons fire.

"I don't know... but I guess you could call them zombies... for lack of a better term!"

TEN YEARS LATER

I sat in an old C-130, waiting to be dropped into the zombie infested area. My platoon's objective was to parachute into a hot zone, fight our way to a group of survivors, and then fight our way to the evac zone twenty miles away. Piece of cake... or that's what we were told by the officers. They obviously hadn't taken the first rule of any combat scenario, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

"Thirty seconds!" the crew chief yelled over the sound of engines. Standing up, I slipped on my gas mask. Walking over towards the rear of the plane, I check to see that all my gear was secured tightly. As all thirty eight of us approached the rear of the cargo plane there was an awful shake and the sound of an explosion.

"We've been hit! Everybody out! GO! GO! GO!" The crew chief yelled. I continued to walk forward, and when it came for me to jump I did without a moment's hesitation. I was falling towards the ground at terminal velocity. Suddenly something smashed into my back and I blacked out.

When I came to, I found myself hanging about five feet above the ground. Looking up, I saw that my parachute had gotten caught in a tree on my way down. Pulling out my knife, I cut myself down. As soon as I hit the ground I tried to raise any of my squad on the radio, but all I got was static in return.

"Fucking Marine Corp piece of crap." I mumbled to myself as I continued to fiddle with it. After another five minutes of fooling around with it, and still getting nothing, I pulled out my map. As soon as I did I cursed myself, because I realized without any points of reference it was useless.

"Okay, Jackson, the survivors were south of your LZ. So head south. Always south." I said to myself as I stood up. Checking to make sure that I had all my weapons, I started to move south. I was carrying a Heckler and Koch Mark 23 Model 0 .45 caliber silenced pistol, a MP-5-SD3, and the Stoner SR-25 sniper rifle. As with the other weapons the sniper was silenced. Holding the MP5 in my gloved hands, I extended the butt and flicked the safety switch to semi-automatic. Before setting off I removed my helmet, pulled on and pulled on my gas mask. I left the helmet off; because it was already hot enough with all this gear on, why make it worse?

I was careful, slow, and I would stop every hundred yards to listen for the zombies. Whether it be the clicking of a Clicker, or the howling rage of a Charger. I had been walking for about two hours and the sun was starting to rise, when I heard the familiar clicking noise. I immediately started to look around. Being the idiot I was, I didn't look where i was walking, and I stepped on a tree branch... a large tree branch. With a screech, it charged me. It was already too close to shoot it, so I smacked it in the head with the butt of the submachine gun, grabbed it by the neck, pushed it into a tree, and in one quick motion, yanked out my pistol and shot it in the head. (MW3 Reference) I was about to walk away when I noticed something disturbing... the clicker wasn't human. It still had the horribly disfigured head, but it had a weird lions tail, fucking wings, claws, legs that you would find on a dog, and feathers. I kept staring at it for about two minutes when I was shaken from my finding by the sound of others making their way to my position. As I made my way south, I got back on the radio.

"This is Gunnery Sergeant John Ryan, USMC, I have come into contact with a single infected. More infected in the area, if anyone can hear me, I am making my way to the town south of my position. Co-ordinate grid is, repeat, Coordinate grid is Zero, Niner, Kilo, over."

As expected, no one responded. I sighed and made my way south. It didn't take long until I made it to the tree line. Before racing out into the field, and the town beyond, I checked to make sure there were no infected nearby. I didn't see anything, but I saw something far worse... a spore cloud. For those that are currently reading my journal and don't know what a spore cloud is, well, it's a cloud of spores that when inhaled, will cause said person to become an infected individual... AKA a zombie.

Instinctively I made sure that my gas mask was secured tightly to my head. Looking left, then right, I sprint to the town beyond. As I approached it, I noticed something didn't feel right. The houses were too short, too colorful, and they weren't made of the same materials that most human structures were. Now thoroughly confused I approached one of the houses. It was shaped, colored, and decorated a lot like the gingerbread houses my grandmother used to make when I was a little kid. As I raised a hand to touch it, I heard someone scream behind me. Turning around, I saw a lavender pony with a purple mane, galloping towards me. It was followed by at least three pony clickers, and about ten common infected ponies. The lavender pony was only about a block away.

"Get down!" I yelled instinctively, and surprisingly, the lavender pony complied. Raising the MP5, I slowly walked towards it, and squeezed off several shots. The first two clickers went down easily, but the other one was wearing some sort of armor or something. It took two shots to take him down. Finally figuring out where the shots were coming from, they charged me instead. Already knowing I couldn't take them all on before they could get to me, I slung the MP5, pulled out my pistol with my right hand, and with my left, pulled out my Lobo. The lobo was the Light Infantry Entrenchment Tool. It was shaped like an old double sided battle axe, but was connected at the top so it could be used as a shovel. I fired off at least five shots at them before they got too close. Holstering the pistol, I started swinging. The only thing that delayed with my killing them, was the fact that they only came to about knee height. As I approached the lavender pony, it was trying to get to its feet.

"Th-thanks." it said in a feminine voice.

"D-D-Did you just..." I stuttered, completely shocked. I had to be going crazy. A talking pony. Then I noticed she also had a horn coming from her forehead. Jesus, today was getting crazier by the second.

"Speak? Yes. What are you by the way?" she asked. I was about to ask another question, when the moaning of more zombies came from behind. Turning around I saw about fifty to seventy zombies rushing us.

"Shit! Let's worry about my mental state latter. Is there a safe zone anywhere nearby?" I asked. When the unicorn didn't reply I slapped her and then asked the question again.

"Y-yes... there is." she said quietly, but continued to stand where she was. I looked back and forth between the approaching zombies and the unicorn. Her horn glowed and then there was a purple flash. A second later I found myself back in the forest, but this time in some sort of camp.

As soon as I felt the ground beneath my feet again, I tore the gas mask off my face and threw up.

"Never... ever... do that again. 'Cause the next time you do... its your ass." I coughed as I stood up completely. As I looked around I saw there were more of the ponies around the camp. They were all different colors. From a yellow one with a pink mane, to the ones in armor that were white with electric blue hair. There were also large tents everywhere. Immediately I saw one extremely large tent with a red cross on the sides and on the flaps in front. What looked like nurse and doctor ponies walked in and out of the tent.

"You've never been exposed to magic, have you?" the purple pony asked.

"Magic? What the hell?" I asked now thoroughly confused. This place was getting more and more confusing by the minute.

"You know what... don't answer that. Now can you please tell me who you are, and where the fuck I am?" I asked as I sat down on the stump of a tree. I was going to take the gear off, but despite sweating up a storm, I didn't know whether this place was secure.

"Well my name is Twilight Sparkle and this is the Everfree forest. Now who... and what are you?" the unicorn asked. I was about to answer her question when I heard the sound of screaming. Turning to the source, I saw four nurse unicorns pushing two stretchers. Standing up I raced over to them. One was a grey stallion that had several bight marks on his hind legs. The other had no apparent external wounds and was a mint green.

"Stop!" I yelled at them. At first they paid me no head and kept going.

"I said... Stop!" I yelled as I forcefully stopped the first stretcher. The nurses stared at me, dumbfounded. i pulled out a small flashlight and shined it in the stallion's eyes.

"Alright, i know you're in a lot of pain right now, but I need you to answer some simple questions for me. Then we can get you medical attention, alright?" I asked the stallion as I pulled out a small metal box from my rucksack. The stallion nodded and winced in pain.

"Were you bitten by any infected ponies?" I asked. He nodded and winced in pain again.

"How long ago?"

"Tw-twelve hours." he gasped. Nodding, I open the case to reveal fifty, ready to go vials. Half of them contained ten CC's of a viscous green liquid that would stop the infection from spreading. Not bothering with any disinfectant, I pull off the protective top of the needle and inert it into his foreleg.

"He's good for the time being. But you need to give him this as soon as possible." I told one of the nurses as I handed her another vial, this one filled with a piss colored liquid. Stepping up to the other one, this one a mare, I started the same procedure. First I shone the flashlight in her eyes, but then I stopped there. The white's of her eyes were turning a bright red and she had a frantic look on her face.

"Ma'am I need to ask you a few questions and then I can let you go. Alright?" I asked her. She gave me a brief nod, and then suddenly convulsed. After a second she stopped convulsing. I had my right hand on my pistol, waiting for a moment. When nothing happened I started my questioning.

"Have you come into contact with any infected?" I asked, she shook her head.

"Have you ran through a hazy fog?" She nodded her head.

"Di-did this fog have a particular smell?"

"It smelled of rotten eggs." she said slowly. I closed my eyes for a moment and looked at the floor. When I looked up, I saw that she was crying silent tears. She knew, she knew what was going to happen, what had to happen. I pulled out the pistol and placed it under her chin.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. She didn't respond, just stared at me. I pulled the trigger. With the soft 'pfft' the nurse standing above her head was spattered with bits of grey matter and blood. Everyone was completely quiet. When I turned around I found out why. Standing not three feet behind me was two tall ponies. The taller of the two was about my height, an unblemished white coat, a long horn, multicolored gravity defying hair, and large wings. The other one was about two thirds her height, had a midnight blue coat, a horn, multicolored gravity defying hair, and had wings also. On both of their heads sat elaborate tiaras.

"Who are thou?" the blue one asked.

"Gunnery Sergeant John Patrick Ryan. Kilo Company. United States Marine Corp." I automatically replied.

"You seem to know what's going on more than any of us." the white one said, glancing at the pony still on the gurney behind me.

"Look ma'am, I don't know where I am, how I got here, or why I'm here. Al I know is that the Marine Corp still owns my soul, there are infected in the area, and my basic mission directives are still active." I told her sternly. She looked at with an intensity that I hadn't felt since boot camp.

"And what are those... directives?" she asked, her gaze never leaving mine.

"To stop the spread of infection..." I started. "By ANY means necessary."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Location: Everfree Forest/ Equestria

Date: July 3, 2025

I stood there, staring at the two tall ponies in front of me. They continued to stare at me. The white one with barely contained anger, the other with fear. We continued our stare down for several minutes before, I broke the silence.

"Look Ma'am, I don't know who you are, and to be honest I don't give a fuck. But it's my job to make sure the infection doesn't spread. It is also my job to make sure that as many civilians make it as possible. If you want to survive to see the beginning of a new year, then it would be best to do things my way." I told her.

"I wish to speak to you in private." the white one said.

"I like to know who I'm speaking to before I'm alone with them." I told her.

"I am Princess Celestia, Co-ruler of Equestria." she said quickly after several moments. As she walked away I hesitated for a moment, and then decided to follow her. I knew I was making things worse with the way I was acting, but I didn't care. I meant every word. As I followed the two ponies, I noticed that all the other ponies were staring at me in fear. I guess word got around fast. Once we were on the outskirts of the refugee area Celestia turned to me.

"I know what you are human, and I know of your violent nature. Under normal circumstances I would strike you down were you stand." she started, still staring at me with hate.

"But you need me." I said smugly. This just seemed to anger her more.

"Yes... I need you... Equestria needs you. And as much as I despise humans..."

"What if I don't want to?" I asked.

"What did you say?" Celestia, now truly infuriated.

"What if I don't want to fight for you?"

"But you said-"

I know what I said PRINCESS. But you have to remember that not everyone is willing to fight. Some don't have the will."

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD TO DO TO GET YOU HERE!? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY OF MY PONIES DIED, WHILE WAITING FOR YOU?!" she screamed. I thought my ears were gonna start bleeding at any moment.

"Princess I never said I wouldn't fight or help you. I'm just saying that some of your... ponies won't want to fight. Before you ask, yes I already have a plan." I told her, keeping calm, even though I wanted to tear her a new one.

"And what is that?" she asked, starting to calm down.

"Who's in charge of your military?"

"Captain Shining Armor. Why?"

"Princess, what are you willing to do to make sure your... subjects, make it through this alive?" I asked her. She looked at the ground for several seconds.

"Anything." she whispered.

"Then I need you to do everything I tell you to do. If I tell you to jump,  
you're in the air before I tell you how high. Is this understood?" I asked her. After a moment she nodded.

"Then I need you to take me to him."

Princess Celestia nodded and started to walk back toward the camp. Following her, I noticed that as I walked through the camp, the ponies stared at me with hate. I didn't care, because I knew that to sometimes, even though you saved someone's life, they would never know it. They would also hate you for it to. As I walked, I made sure to keep my hands away from my weapons. As we entered the tent I saw that there was a lot odd grey and white ponies in gold and blackish armor. I guessed that this was their temporary command center. One stallion in particular caught my attention. He stood above a large map of what I assumed was the country of Equestria. He was white, with a tail and hair that was electric blue with lighter shades running through it. Standing next to him was Twilight Sparkle if I remembered her name correctly.

"Attention on deck!" someone yelled. Immediately every single pony in armor stood up at attention.

"As you were." Princess Celestia said. As we approached the table, the other princess, what was her name again... Wuna... no... Luna, that was it Luna. Princess Luna entered through the back.

"Captain," started Celestia. "This is Gunnery Sergeant Ryan. You are to do everything he says, is this clear?"

"Yes princess." the Captain said as he turned towards me. He gave me a brief look over, his eyes stopping on my weapons briefly. Ignoring this, I held out my hand.

"As the princess said, I'm Gunnery Sergeant Ryan. It's a pleasure to meet you sir." I said. The stallion hesitated a moment than awkwardly shook my hand.

"Captain Shining Armor." he replied, still nervous.

"Sir, I'm still an enlisted soldier so you can order me to do anything you need me to do. As long as it doesn't conflict with my orders." This seemed to put him more at ease.

"That seems reasonable." he replied.

"Alright... before we do anything, we need to make this position more secure. You need to clear all the trees in a hundred yard radius and use the wood to form a wall around the camp." I told the Captain. He nodded and ordered a group of ponies who weren't doing anything to get to it.

"Can you show me where all your military forces are?" Shining Armor nodded and lead me to the table that he had been standing over. The map was of the country of Equestria.

"Blue is of our military units, red is of completely infested zones, green is where we think survivors are holed up, and orange is a mix of our military and civilians." the Captain explained. There was a lot more green on the map than I expected. There was also more orange than anything else.

"God know I'm going to burn in hell for this..." I whispered. "Tell your men to fall back."

"What!?" Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and Twilight said at the same time.

"Are you crazy!? If we do that, we'll be abandoning those civilians to die!" Shining Armor yelled.

"I said to have your soldiers, all of them, pull back." I repeated. As I  
repeated myself, everyone, or I should say every pony, became suddenly silent, and stared at me.

"Do you know what you're asking?!" Celestia growled. "You're asking us to abandoning them!"

"I know..." I whispered, as I tightened my grip on the table in front of me.

"How? How can you do this?" Luna asked.

"Do you think I like the orders I'm giving?! Well I don't! It's necessary! You have a better plan that doesn't involve having your soldiers torn to shreds trying to save innocent civilians?! Any pony who's survived up to this point can take care of them. You can't think about the short term here. What I'm doing will allow you to take back your country from the undead hordes." I yelled. Ever ypony just looked at me with shock.

"It's called the Redeker plan. This plan got us and two billion people out of the war with our lives."

"Also you'll need to start airdropping supplies. Food, water, medicine, weapons, and information. Also, all civilians are advised to stay in their safe havens unless absolutely necessary. Anothe-" I said but I was interrupted by a very familiar noise. Someone's stomach started rumbling. It took me a second to figure out it was mine. Everyone at the table looked at me. I felt my cheeks grow hot and I could tell I was blushing.

"We all have our weaknesses." Shining Armor laughed. Twilight suggested that we brake for something to eat and then come back later. I followed everyone towards the makeshift mess hall. It was actually set up a lot like the ones back home. Celestia and the others all went to the back of the line but I didn't. I got my tray, several plates, and a cup for water. I jumped the line looking for things I recognized or hoped was edible. Corn on the cob, what looked like green beans, some of the best apples I've ever seen, spaghetti, and their version of a Hawaiian styled pizza. When I reached for the pizza, an orange hoof slapped my hand out of the way. The owner of that hoof was orange, had blond hair in a ponytail, wore a Stetson hat, and like all the others, had a mark on her flank. Her's was of three red apples. I would have to ask one of them about those marks sometime.

"There's a line ya know." she said with a southern drawl.

"Ya... I know." I told her as I grabbed several of the slices and put them on the second plate.

"Ya'll should get to the back of it and wait like the rest of us if you know what's good Fer ya." she said.

"That's your line?" I asked, "Well this is my boot," I continued as I pointed to my black combat boots, "and with the proper amount of force it will fit up your ass."

With that I walked off toward the makeshift tables they had set up. As I sat down I pulled out my iPod, which I usually brought with me if I was going on extended engagements like the one I was going to go on before I came here. As I sat down, the orange pony from earlier sat in front of me, followed a minute later by Twilight Sparkle. Looking up, I saw both of them staring at me as I wolfed down my food.

"What?" I asked as I swallowed.

"I wanted to ask you some things. Is that alright?" Twilight asked. The other pony just continued to look at me with a blank expression.

"Sure, knock yourself out."

"You speak as if this... infection as you call it, has been were you come from, for a long time."

"Ten and a half years and counting." I replied to the unasked question.

"What's causing all of this?" she asked.

"Before I answer that I just remembered something. Where's that princess of yours?" I asked as I looked around.

"Right here." a voice said from behind me. Standing up and turning around I saw Princess Celestia.

"Do you have gas masks stored anywhere?" I asked her.

"Yes we do. May we ask why thou need them." Princess Luna asked.

"Protection. You see, what's causing all of this is a virus, and this virus usually spreads through the air. It can be passed through other means like bights, bodily fluids or sexual contact. Though that last one is still theoretical. If you inhale the virus, it's over, there's nothing we can do for you. You'll turn into a zombie within the hour. But it its spread anyway else you can be saved." I told them.

"So thou wants to distribute these gas masks to the civilian and military to prevent further infections?" Luna asked.

"Exactly." I stated.

"We have an entire storage facility filled with gas masks. I will accompany you there." Princess Celestia told me. I didn't argue. I could see it in her eyes, she wanted to see what had happened to her beloved city.

"There is one problem though sister..." Luna started, "... the Castle has been completely overrun with those things."

"And? That doesn't matter, what does is the survival of the civilians."

"Is there anything thou needs before thou leaves?" Luna asked.

"Sister."

"We... I am sorry Tia, I'm still not used to it." Luna said apologetically. Everyone just remained quiet.

"No princess, I don't." I told her. I could already tell that we were going to get along just fine.

"Then let us go."

A/N: There is a Black Hawk Down reference in there as well as the BOOK version of World war Z.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: As many of you seem to think, this is a crossover of MLP and The Last of Us (Which is an extremely good game) but it is not. It was just heavily influenced by it and others. Here's the list of various games and movies that influenced this fanfic:  
Games

Left 4 Dead (1 and 2)

State of Decay

The Last of Us

Dead Rising

Dead Island

Movies

Extinction: The G.M.O. Chronicles (Extremely good and highly recommend it)

State of Emergency

Notice how I did not put World War Z in that list. The truth is as a movie it was good, but as a movie based off a book it was pretty bad.

Location: Canterlot Castle/ Equestria

Date: July 3, 2025

As soon as the yellow flash faded away I yanked on my gas mask and handed a spare to the princess. It was the kind that was temporary and only covered the mouth and nose. Surprisingly it actually fit. Looking around I saw we were inside a long hall. At one end was a single golden throne with red cushions and at the other was a large golden door. In between the two was about a dozen or so of the guards, all of them shambling around the room. Shouldering the MP5, I took aim and opened fire. It was easy and only took about ten seconds to drop all of them. I motioned for the princess to show me where the cache was. As I had feared she started to walk towards the doors. I followed her with the MP5 raised and ready to fire.

"Alright princess what is it?" I whispered as I approached the door.

"What?" she hissed.

"I know you've been wanting to ask or tell me something, now's the time. Before we get torn apart by zombies."

"I just wanted to apologize fo-" she began but I interrupted her.

"Don't."

"What?" she asked, this time confused.

"Don't apologize. I don't deserve it."

"But every pony needs to be forgiven at some point."

"Not me princess. Not after some of the things I've done." I replied as I slowly opened the door. The hallway beyond was completely empty other the occasional patch of blood. Stepping out into the hallway I motioned for Princess Celestia to lead the way. It didn't take long to get to the storage area that was underground. We ran into infected only several times on the way and dispatched them quickly. Actually I should say I dispatched them quickly. Thankfully most of the infected were in the courtyard and really didn't pose much of a threat. The storage area was huge. Easily the size of a football stadium. It was filled with small boxes stacked to the ceiling, to the large Connex freight containers. I couldn't believe that this was for only gas masks.

"How...?" I began.

"It's not all for gas masks. The vast majority is armor, and weapons for the guards." Princess Celestia said. Answering my unasked question.

"Okay which ones carry the gas masks and how many are in one?"

"they're in those." Princess Celestia replied, pointing at one of the larger crates. "Each one carries about twenty thousand."

"How many can you move... using your teleport magic shit?"

"Including you and me? About eight." Celestia replied. As she said this I heard a snarling of a Charger.

"Uh Princess..." I started.

"What?!" she replied with a little bit of hostility. She was clearly still mad at me and I don't think that was going to change anytime soon.

"There's one of them in here with us." I whispered as I made sure that the MP5 had a full magazine. The princess's eyes widened then narrowed. As she adopted a more stable stance, I heard the Charger started to shamble over to us. Chargers were large and fast. Not as fast as a sprinter but still pretty fast. A yellow glow enveloped me and a felt a strange tingling sensation across my skin. The Charger turned the corner and I got a good look at it. It was about my size with bulging muscles. The only thing that put it apart from others was its horn. Unlike most unicorns this one's horn was folded out like flower petals. It continued to walk forward completely ignoring me. As it approached me I raised the MP5 and fired. It howled in rage and charged towards. I continued to fire at its overgrown head but it slugged off the bullets. I rolled out of the way as it was about to ram me.

"Princess… you could hurry up please." I yelled as I rolled away again. I ran down a hallway between crates and unslung the Stoner.

"Long distance teleportation is very difficult, and it doesn't help that you're running around." Princess Celestia yelled. I clicked off the safety as I ran.

"Tell that to the bastard trying to fucking eat me!" I yelled as I crouched down, took aim, and fired a shot. The bullet flew true and hit the Charger in the forehead.

"The language is unnecessary." Celestia growled.

"Well go-" I was interrupted by a flash of yellow light and I found myself right outside the camp. "-fuck youself."

"Silence." she hissed as she set down the crates. Immediately, guards came from the camp and converged on the crates. They opened them up and started to pack them into smaller crates. As soon as one was done, a several pegasai would fly it away. In the corner of my eye I saw Princess Celestia speaking to a group of guards, all of them were unicorn guards. After a minute they all nodded, saluted, and then disappeared in a riot of colors. I assumed that they were all going back to the castle to get more gear. A few minutes later I was proven right when they reappeared with different crates. As they unloaded these ones I saw they filled with food and weapons.

"Hold it!" I yelled over all the noise. Immediately all the ponies stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I walked forward and retrieved a black marker from by rucksack. Leaning over a crate filled with food and weapons that was about to be shipped of, I started to write. After I was done I pointed to a random guard.

"You!" I said.

"Me?" the guard replied.

"Yes you! Now get over here." I replied. As the guard approached me I held out the marker.

"Sign it." I told him.

"What?" he asked, clearly confused.

"You don't have to understand the order just fuckin do it." I growled. The guard hesitantly grabbed the marker and signed. When he was done the top of the crate read, 'YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN Private Broadside'

"That is what you are going to do with every one you send. You'll write that and sign your name and rank. Is this understood?!" I asked.

"Yes sir!" they all chorused.

"I'm not a sir. I work for a fucking living." I replied as I walked off. I didn't see Princess Celestia anywhere in the camp, which suited me just fine. As I walked around I noticed something. All the ponies were walking around in a very depressed manner. I smiled as I thought of a way to lift their spirits up. There was suddenly a pink blur in front of me.

"Ohmygosheyou'rethatnewponyeverypony'sbeentalkinga bout!" a pink mare said. The pink mare had a pink mane and was jumping energetically. "Theywerealllike 'He's such a meanie pants!' but then I was all like' Noheisn't' SoIdecidedtogomeetyou! ButyouhadalreadyleftandIwasalllike 'Aaah' but then-" she was interrupted as a cyan colored pegasus covered her mouth with her hoof. The owner of the hoof had rainbow colored hair and rose colored eyes.

"I think he wants to keep his sanity Pinkie Pie."

"But... but... but physics." I stammered. While she had talked the pink one had disappeared and reappeared in another spot, several times.

"It's better if you didn't question it." the rainbow haired pegasus said. "I' Rai-

"I would love to stay and chat but I got to go." I told them As I spotted the pony I was looking for. I walked away and towards a purple pony who was sitting down in front of a tent reading a book.

"Miss Twilight!" I called out to her. She looked up towards me and gave a nervous smile.

"Hello." she said as she stood up.

"I need your help with something." I told her. I then whispered my plan into her ear. She smiled and nodded energetically.

"That seems like a great Idea!" she said as she got up.

"Where do we need to go?" Twilight asked.

"Well I need some cooking supplies so-" I was interrupted by a flash of purple light and I suddenly appeared in the dining room of an expensive restaurant. Unprepared I fell over and smacked my face on a table.

"Son of a-" I started to say. As I got up I heard Twilight giggle. I just shot her a look and then made my way to the kitchen. It didn't take long to find the things I needed. As soon as I found them I started to load them into a cardboard box that was about the size of Twilight.

"Do you really need all that stuff?" she asked after sever minutes. The box was almost full by now.

"No..." I started to say, "... but it makes it much more..." I stopped, trying to think of a word.

"Easier?" Twilight suggested.

"Elegant was the word I was looking for. I could cook you a romantic three course dinner with nothing more than a spoon and a knife."

"Are you lying?" she asked, obviously thinking I was pulling her leg with the last bit.

"Well... I would need a candle too." At this she giggled. With all the stuff I needed, I hefted the box up.

"Alright Twilight, I'm ready to go back." Her horn started to glow purple.

A/N: Okay I actually have started to do fanfic readings and will post them on Youtube, I need to ask a favor. Can any of you provide cover art for my Channel. I would do it myself but I'm busy with various other things. So if any of you want to it would be much appreciated. Just PM me to tell me your doing it before you go and do it. Don't want you to do it and have no way to send it to me.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Location: Ponyville/ Equestria

"Don't, I want to walk back." I told Twilight as I wrapped the box with  
cargo netting and attached it to my rucksack. We walked through the town in silence. Twilight's happy attitude was gone now, to be replaced by a depressed state. They were at the edge of town when Twilight stopped and stood in front of what looked like a small grave. As she stood there I could see that she was crying. I assumed this was a close friend or family member.

"You never get over something like this." I told her after several minutes.

"How can you say that?" she asked. The hurt was apparent in her voice.

"Because it's true." I told her as as squatted next to her.

"Who did you loose?"

" Who didn't I loose? I lost my parents, my brother, my friends... I held my best friend as he died in my arms." I paused for a minute to wipe away the tears that had formed in my eyes. After a moment I felt Twilight wrap her hooves around me. I sat there for about five minutes when I thought I heard something. I gently pushed Twilight off of me and stood up. I tiled my head to the left and listened carefully.

"Come on!' I told Twilight as I ran back into town. I ran through the  
streets towards of the town and towards the unmistakable sound of a M2 Browning .50 Caliber machine gun. As I finally turned the last corner I saw a Humvee behind a makeshift barricade.

"Come on! Get some!" yelled the Marine behind the turret as he fired at a crowd of rushing zombies.. "You want some?! I have enough for all of ya'll!"

"Texas!" I yelled out, using the friendly code word. I didn't want him to turn around and think I was a zombie.

"Ranger!" the Marine replied. As I ran towards him I saw that it was  
Private Eversmit.

"What's the situation Smitty?" I asked, using his nickname.

"What the fuck? Gunney? Where the hell you been man?"

"Uuuuuuh..." I said glancing at Twilight who kept staring at the Humvee with curiosity. "It's complicated. Where's the rest of the platoon?!"

"They're at the town square!"

"Who's in charge!?" I asked as Eversmit finally stopped firing.

"Lieutenant Haverson's MIA but we did find his bottom half in the forest so he's probably dead. Sergeant Major smoked the dope. So I guess you're in charge Gunney."

"Well fuck."

"Smoked the dope?" Twilight asked with a look of confusion on her face.

"It's a term that we use. It means one of two things. First, your gas  
mask was faulty to begin with, or you were unlucky enough to parachute into a spore cloud."

"Parachute?"

"Humans don't have wings or magic. So instead we make devices and machines to help us. One of these is an airplane. Its pretty much a giant metal bird, and sometimes we'll jump out of them and into areas that we couldn't get to otherwise."

"Why not just wear the gas masks when you jump?"

"Because of the aerodynamics. If we were to wear these when we jump it would push our heads back and snap our necks."

"... oh..."

"Alright lets move out." I said to no one in particular as I climbed into  
the drivers seat. Reaching over, I opened the door across from me and Twilight climbed in. She looked incredibly awkward as she sat in the over sized seat. I turned the Humvee around and headed towards town square. Making the last turn, I saw the rest of the platoon. They had a defensive perimeter set up and I could see about twelve men were on clean up duty. Clean up duty was pretty much gathering all the zombie bodies in a big pile, soaking them with kerosene, and lighting it all on fire.

At the center of the camp was four Armored Amphibious Vehicles, officially known as A.A.V-7A1. They could carry up to twenty five people including the driver, gunner, and vehicle commander. Surrounding the AAVs was seven Humvees. On the mission I was on before arriving in Equestria, the AAVs would have been used to transport the civilians to the LZ for pickup with the Humvees acting as an escort.

"Hey Gunney's back!" I heard a Marine yell as I parked the Humvee.

"Where you been Gunney?" A Corporal asked.

"Long story... Alright everyone, gather round." I called out and waited for all the Marines to form a circle around me.

"As many of you have probably have guessed, we are no longer on planet Earth. This doesn't mean you can go and do whatever you feel like. There's still a Chain of Command, the Marine Corp still owns your ass, and your still Marines so act like it. Oorah?" I asked.

"Oorah!" the Marines replied with enthusiasm.

"Then get your shit together we are leaving!" I yelled. As they dispersed to get their gear Twilight walked up to me.

"Oorah? What does that mean?"

"It can mean anything to hello, to do you understand. Just depends on how you say it."

"Oh..." she lapsed into silence as she climbed into the Humvee with me. After I started the engine and everyone was in their respective vehicles, I followed Twilight's directions back to the camp.

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

I stood just outside the area that the Marines had set up for themselves. Watching them quench their boredom with good old fashioned Marine entertainment... at my and the ponies expense. Corporal Jackson had finished his 'impression' of Princess Celestia and had moved on to mock me. The impression was pretty damn accurate. When Jackson had made fun of Celestia, the group of Royal Guards that sat behind the Marines had been laughing the whole time. But now they were silent while Marines laughed. Probably because they didn't know me like the guys and girls of our  
platoon did.

"What is thou doing?" turning to my left I saw Princess Luna walking  
towards me.

"Watching the entertainment."

"Entertainment?" she asked. A confused expression on her face.

"Yeah... trust me you don't want forty bored Marines in the same area. Just watch." I told her as I turned back to Jackson.

"Speak up," he said. "you say this is your safety...? Well this is my boot son... and it will fit up your ass with the proper amount of force."

Jackson then walked up to Private Eversmit. "Take those sunglasses off soldier. If the Army wants to where uglies that's their business."

"Hey we are at the ten yard line here men, do you understand? Can you count the Marine Corp way? One, two, ten." The Marines roared with laughter. "Hey... I didn't see you at church on Sunday. You have something more important to do? ...not on Sunday you don't, not anymore."

"I think its about time." I said to no one in particular.

"Time for what?" Luna asked.

"You'll see. Can you get your sister and Shining Armor for me please?" Princess Luna nodded and raced off.


End file.
